March 24, 2020 at 12:00 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Going Virtual
March 24, 2020 at 7:58 am
As a deaf person I struggle with virtual events as there are less cues as to what is going on. Much of my brain power is taken up interpreting the sounds rather than interpreting the content.
The lack of social interaction is also a problem. I enjoyed getting to meet people at SQLBits I had only ever "met" online.
Virtual MeetUps are a bit of a mixed bag. There is an optimum size for a group online whereas in the physical world a large group will naturally split into smaller sub-groups. I think online MeetUps require a great deal more preparation and a great chair person. I don't think we are quite at the technological point where we can have a VR conference though there are Microsoft videos of what VR meetings can be.
I think COVID-19 is going to be a spur for a whole range of technology innovations that will make the next gen of social media a huge step forward.
March 24, 2020 at 9:43 am
I think that this crisis is going to make a permanent step-change in the way organisations work. Currently, I work for the NHS (yes, it is organised mayhem at the moment but the staff are getting it all together). The variation is huge. My current organisation, even though it had a good set up for working from home, only let staff use it grudgingly. They also had (until last week) really poor eConferencing and no electronic support for team working. Just a couple of months' ago they had to replace a large number of computers as they would not work with Windows 10 (they are on the ball with this one) but they bought desktops! Why? Now they are frantically trawling for laptops.
My previous NHS organisation supplied laptops as standard. They had eConferencing and teamworking support. This was because they were a community/mental health Trust with 100+ sites. I would go 'into work' 2-3 times a week but, often, was sitting at a desk working with nobody who was in the office with me. I must have worked at ten different sites as well as at home. Staff would have adjacent meetings at sites 30 miles apart (ok, I know, in the USA, this is peanuts.) So staff where I work now find the new arrangements strange but I am quite used to them. As a result of this, I can see my current organisation moving that way permanently.
Another area where there is likely to be permanent changes is GP surgeries. There has been a lot of reluctance (dare I say "opposition"?) to telemedicine - hence the room for Babylon to make easy inroads. Well, now these GPs have a choice - use telemedicine (which is available via their GP system suppliers) or not 'see' their patients! It might also make them buck up their ideas or get improved response where system support quality is poor, I hope.
The downside to this is for the less (or non) tech-savvy patients but this is very much acknowledged. Still, there will have to be changes to accommodate different patient cohorts. (As an aside, I was pleasantly surprised to see my wife's 90yo aunt get her smartphone out and use an app at a restaurant - are we ever too old to learn?)
March 24, 2020 at 1:09 pm
I'm with you, Steve. I consider a virtual event a mixed bag. Certainly a virtual event is better than nothing. I've attended several over the years because it was impossible for me to go to the event in person. But the downside is not being to interact with others, learning what someone else had to learn on some topic you need to know about or do. And also being virtual means odds are extremely high that I can't actually attend the event, but will have to be working on my job as if the virtual event weren't even occurring. The best I can hope for is to catch a session or two.
Rod
March 24, 2020 at 2:02 pm
I do wonder about the future of virtual work. Depending on how this month goes, and how managers are rated afterwards (bonus, review, etc.) we may get more or less in the future.
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